Controlling vehicle cabin networks based on connectivity metrics

ABSTRACT

A network analysis terminal is described that operates within a vehicle cabin to generate connectivity metrics. The terminal monitors packets communicated through at least one cabin network between a content server and passenger terminals. The terminal identifies passenger terminal identifiers that are addressed by content of the packets, and identifies names of vehicle passengers associated with the packets using the passenger terminal identifiers as indexes to retrieve the names of vehicle passengers from an information repository that maps names of vehicle passengers to passenger terminal identifiers. The terminal then generates connectivity metrics based on measurements performed on the packets over time and the identified names of the passengers, and controls communications through the at least one cabin network based on the connectivity metrics.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/234,788 filed on Aug. 11, 2016, the disclosure and contentsof which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to monitoring performance of vehiclecommunication systems, such as in-flight entertainment systems.

BACKGROUND

In-flight entertainment (IFE) systems are deployed onboard aircraft toprovide entertainment services for passengers in a passenger cabin. TheIFE systems typically provide passengers with television and audiomultimedia entertainment programming.

One type of IFE system is a “server centric” architecture wheremultimedia content is located on a server or a set of servers installedin an electronic bay in the airplane. Video content is played throughdisplays installed at overhead locations or within seatbacks, andassociated audio content is played through jacks provided in seatarmrests.

Another type of IFE system is a “seat centric” architecture wherecontent is stored in mass data storage devices located at individualseats and played through associated seat displays. The server (or set ofservers) acts as an injection point for content that will be laterinstalled locally into the seat mass data storage devices, and also actsas a secondary source for content that may not fit in the seat mass datastorage devices.

There has also been an emergence of wireless systems providingconnectivity within server centric architectures and seat centricarchitectures to passenger personal electronic devices (PEDs) or“passenger terminals”, such as Internet access, as well as limitedstreaming entertainment, such as movies. These systems use servers toprovide content through Cabin Wireless Access Points (CWAPs) installedat spaced apart locations along the airplane cabin.

With the proliferation of the number of different types of vehicleentertainment systems and associated cabin equipment along with theincreasing use of a myriad of different types and configurations ofterminals that are carried onboard by passengers, it is becomingincreasingly difficult to assess whether such systems are performingacceptably and what is contributing to operational limitations orproblems.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments of the present invention are directed to a networkanalysis terminal that operates within a vehicle cabin. The networkanalysis terminal includes a network interface that is configured tomonitor packets communicated through at least one cabin network betweena content server and passenger terminals. A processor is connected toreceive packets monitored by the network interface, and is configured toidentify passenger terminal identifiers that are addressed by content ofthe packets. Names of vehicle passengers associated with the packets areidentified using the passenger terminal identifiers as indexes toretrieve the names of vehicle passengers from an information repositorythat maps names of vehicle passengers to passenger terminal identifiers.Connectivity metrics are generated based on measurements performed onthe packets over time and the identified names of the passengers.Communications through the at least one cabin network are controlledbased on the connectivity metrics.

These and other operations and methods disclosed herein cannon-intrusively monitor the operation of passenger terminals utilizingone or more cabin networks within a vehicle. A passenger terminal thatis interfering with communications between cabin wireless access pointsand other passenger terminals can be reported to a crew member with anidentification of the associated passenger name and/or can be blockedfrom accessing the cabin wireless access points. The network analysisterminal can provide a listing of the passenger names to an onboard oroff-board registry that can determine whether one of the passengers is apotential problem and, if so, can trigger notification to a crew memberand/or block access to the cabin wireless access points. For a networkprovider (such as a manufacturer of IFE systems) or a passenger carrier(such an airline operator), how well the communication system isperforming from particular passengers' perspectives is important for thesuccess of the service. Moreover, the passenger owned terminals whichare being used to interface to the cabin networks may be the source ofperformance limitations. The connectivity metrics can be used toeffectively identify the source of system operational limitations orproblems.

Other network analysis terminals and related methods and computerprogram products according to embodiments of the present disclosure willbe or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon review of thefollowing drawings and detailed description. It is intended that allsuch additional network analysis terminals, methods, and computerprogram products be included within this description and be protected bythe accompanying claims. Moreover, it is intended that all embodimentsdisclosed herein can be implemented separately or combined in any wayand/or combination.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this application, illustrate certain non-limiting embodiment(s)of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a network analysis terminal that generates passengerconnectivity experience metrics based on measurements of packetscommunicated for an IFE system having cabin wireless access points(CWAPs) that interconnect seat video display units (SVDUs) and passengerterminals to a content server, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates example serving cells provided by the CWAPs mountedto ceiling structure along an aisle of the aircraft cabin;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the CWAP server, the CWAPs, and the IFEcontent server of FIG. 1 configured according to some embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a combined flowchart and data flow diagram of operations andmethods performed by a passenger terminal, a CWAP, and a content serveraccording to some embodiments;

FIGS. 5-12 illustrate operations and methods performed by the networkanalysis terminal in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a network node that can be configured tooperate as the content server and/or a CWAP in accordance with someembodiments; and

FIGS. 14-21 illustrate operations and methods performed by the networkanalysis terminal in accordance with some other embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of aspects of theinvention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat the present invention may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, componentsand circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure thepresent invention.

Although various embodiments are explained herein in the context ofentertainment systems for an In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) environmentof an aircraft, other embodiments are not limited thereto and may beused in other types of vehicles, including, without limitation, ships,buses, and trains. Thus reference to a vehicle cabin can correspond tothe passenger space that is moved by any such vehicle.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure are directed tonon-intrusively measuring the passenger (user) experience of one or morepassengers utilizing one or more cabin networks within a vehicle. For anetwork provider (such as a manufacturer of IFE systems) or a passengercarrier (such an airline operator), how well the communication system isperforming from particular passengers' perspectives is important for thesuccess of the service. While the hardware platform(s) may befunctioning properly, software components and other factors (such as RFinterference in a wireless network) may still result in a poor passengerexperience. Moreover, the passenger owned terminals which are being usedto interface to the cabin networks may be the source of performancelimitations or problems. The passenger connectivity experience metricscan be used to identify the source of such limitations or problems.

Known network analysis tools can operate within components of acommunication network to query or monitor certain hardware and/orsoftware performance metrics. However, the terminals carried onboard bypassengers (“passenger terminals”) are not part of the cabincommunication equipment and thus can't be effectively monitored. Hence,operational problems occurring within passenger terminals may not beeffectively identified, measured, or analyzed.

Various operations and methods that can be performed to provide improvedmonitoring and analysis of passenger connectivity experiences with usingone or more cabin networks are described below in the non-limitingcontext of an aircraft IFE environment.

FIG. 1 illustrates an IFE system that includes Cabin Wireless AccessPoints (CWAPs) 110 that are installed (mounted) at spaced apartlocations along a passenger aisle within an aircraft cabin 100 toprovide corresponding wireless communication service cells to seat VideoDisplay Units (VDUs) or SVDUs 132, passenger terminals 130, and othertypes of wireless terminals. The CWAPs 110 communicate through awireless air interface that can be operated based on one or morecommunication protocols including, without limitation, IEEE 802.11, 3GPPLong Term Evolution (LTE), Bluetooth, WIMAX, light WIFI, etc. Becauseembodiments of the present disclosure can be used in other environments,a CWAP can also be more generally referred to as a wireless access point(WAP).

The seat VDUs 132 may include displays that are mounted to seatbacks, totray tables that are deployable from armrests, and/or to other seatstructure or cabin structure. The passenger terminals 130 may correspondto any personal wireless terminal having wireless communicationscapabilities for communicating with the CWAPs and which can be carriedby a passenger onto an aircraft, including, without limitation, tabletcomputers, laptop computers, palmtop computers, cellular smart phones,media players, etc. Embodiments of the present disclosure can be usedwith any plural number of CWAPs 110, seat VDUs 132, and passengerterminals 130, and are not limited to the example numbers shown in anyof the figures.

The seat VDUs 132 and the passenger terminals 130 can be used bypassengers for IFE services in which video and other content iswirelessly communicated from an IFE content server 132 via packetscontaining IP addresses of the seat VDUs 132 and/or passenger terminals130. The packets are routed through the CWAPs 110 that provide wirelesscommunication service to those seat VDUs 132 and/or passenger terminals130. Passengers may also be provided in-flight shopping services throughthe seat VDUs 132 and the passenger terminals 130 based on productcatalogs that are downloaded from the content server 140. The seat VDUs132 and the passenger terminals 130 may also be provided Internetconnectivity through the CWAPs 110 and an off-board radio linktransceiver 120 (e.g., Satellite communication link, cellularcommunication link, etc.) to a ground based Internet or private networkaccess edge router.

In accordance with various embodiments herein, the IFE system of FIG. 1includes a network analysis terminal 150 that generates passengerconnectivity experience metrics based on measurements of packets beingcommunicated between the CWAPs 110 and the passenger terminals 130and/or between the CWAPs 110 and the seat VDUs 132, and or may beconnected to generate passenger connectivity experience metrics based onmeasurements of packets between the CWAPs 110 and the content server132, in accordance with some embodiments.

The network analysis terminal 150 actively monitors network trafficbetween passenger terminals 130, seat VDUs 132, and/or other endpointsand the end services with which they are communicating (e.g., thecontent server 132 and/or the off-board radio link transceiver 120 to anoff-board Internet server). Passenger connectivity experience metricsare generated that can be used to determine not just that the users areable to access the services, but also measure defined performancecharacteristics of those services. This provides significant insightinto how those passengers perceive the quality of experience with usingthose services.

This network analysis terminal 150 can be tailored to monitor operationsand performance of specific service end-points both internally (e.g.,the content server 132 and/or the off-board radio link transceiver 120to an off-board Internet server) and externally (e.g., website orcontent provided by networked web server).

The diagram above shows a typical cabin network in which passengersutilize various passenger terminals 130 (e.g., smart phones, tabletcomputers, laptop computers, etc) that communicate via the CWAPs 110 anda backbone wired network (e.g., Ethernet). This cabin network typicallycan include local services such as network services (e.g., DHCP, DNS,and routing functional services). The off-board radio link transceiver120, the content server 132, and/or another component can perform routeroperations that route passenger network traffic to onboard services oroff-board to, e.g., the Internet to access web sites and/or servicesfrom third parties (e.g., Google or Amazon operated web servers).

The network analysis terminal 150 is positioned and configured to “hear”the bi-directional traffic flow between the passengers and the servicepoints through the cabin network. This terminal 150 examines the networktraffic flows between the passengers and the service points and performsqualitative measurements on the availability and performance of thosecommunications. The terminal 150 may perform deep packet inspection toidentify which onboard or off-board service is associated with thecommunication (e.g., streaming audio from Amazon web server) and/orwhich operational state of a protocol is being invoked by the packet.Optionally, results of the measurements can be fed back into the IFEsystem and/or components of the cabin network, and/or can be forwardedto a crew terminal and/or to a system operator console, which may beonboard or off-board, to improve and/or enhance the passenger'sconnectivity experience.

Various embodiments of the network analysis terminal 150 operate todetect devices using the cabin network and actively analyzes packetflows and/or related protocol transitions between each device andservice end points. For example, in some systems there are specificknown packet exchanges that are expected to be observed by the networkanalysis terminal 150 when the service end points and cabin networkcomponents are operating normally. These exchanges can be detected andanalyzed, to determine whether the associated services are bothavailable and have acceptable performance metrics compared to acceptableavailability policies and performance rules. Quality of service can bemeasured, such as the timing jitter experienced between packets providedin a sequence for a service, error rate across the packets, packetretransmission rates due to errors or dropped packets, etc.

As part of the measurement process, both quality and performanceattributes can be analyzed. The throughput and latency of the packetexchanges can be analyzed to detect if there is system degradation thatsatisfies a defined action rule which triggers an associated definedremediation action. Retransmissions of packets and/or flow controlrequests can be observed and measured to detect potential communicationperformance bottlenecks, presence of interfering passenger terminals,poorly operating passenger terminals, and other system communicationissues.

The network analysis terminal 150 can be further enhanced and customizedto analyze specific service requests, e.g., HTTP requests, to collectadditional information about the passengers' behaviors and service endpoint usage patterns.

These operations and capabilities may, in some embodiment, be performedwhen communication traffic through the cabin network is encrypted. Forexample, the network analysis terminal 150 can observe and measurecontent of protocol information that is communicated as unencrypted datawith encrypted user traffic packets. The network analysis terminal 150can analyze data provided by Ethernet and TCP/IP layers, where data isnot encrypted (except in some wireless networks). In some embodiments,the network analysis terminal 150 is provided necessary encryptioninformation to allow decryption of network packets that are encrypted bythe service end points and/or by components of the cabin network.

In some embodiments, the network analysis terminal 150 interacts withpassenger terminals 130 and/or other end point devices in alisten/receive only mode, so that there is no inherent additional impacton the cabin network performance and operation. The terminal 150 cananalyze the network packet traffic in “real-time” and compute passengerconnectivity experience metrics related to each passenger terminal andthe related specific behaviors of different passengers. As explainedabove, the generated passenger connectivity experience metrics can beoptionally fed back to control operation of the IFE system and/orcomponents of the cabin network, and/or can be forwarded to a crewterminal and/or to a system operator console.

Although the network analysis terminal 150 is illustrated as beingseparate from the content server 132 and components of the cabinnetwork, it may in some other embodiments be at least partiallyincorporated into the content server 132, a CWAP 110, or anothercomponent of the cabin network. The network analysis terminal 150 can bea stand-alone tablet computer particularly configured to perform one ormore of the embodiments disclosed herein. It may be desirable to hostoperations of the network analysis terminal 150 as close to thepassenger's environment as possible, so that the terminal operations cananalyze as much traffic as possible between the passenger terminals 130and service points.

The network analysis terminal 150 can include a wireless networkinterface configured to listen to packets communicated through awireless air interface and/or may have a “wired” network interface to awired network (e.g., Ethernet or other wired LAN). However, if theterminal 150 only has a wired network interface it may be difficult ornot possible to detect issues within the “wireless” network (such asinterference). The network analysis terminal 150 can include multiplenetwork interfaces (wired and/or wireless) that operate tosimultaneously monitor multiple networks and/or network access points,e.g., CWAPs 110.

Additional (external) sensors could be added to capture additional dataitems to enhance the types passenger connectivity experience metricsthat can be generated and the accuracy of those metric. Some suchsensors may include items such as: time sources, Radio Frequency sensors(for WiFI type networks), etc.

FIG. 2 illustrates example serving cells 200, 202, 204 provided by theCWAPs 110 (FIG. 1) mounted to ceiling structure along an aisle of theaircraft cabin 100. The network analysis terminal 150 may be movablealong the aisle through the serving cells 200, 202, 204 by a crew memberand/or other operator to perform measurements of packets beingcommunicated between the respective CWAPs 110 and the passengerterminals 130, seat VDUs 132, and/or other communication terminals.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the IFE system and network analysisterminal of FIG. 1 configured according to some embodiments. The systemincludes a content server 132 that communicates with passengerterminals, not shown, via a cabin network 300. The illustrated cabinnetwork 300 includes CWAPs 110 (e.g., CWAP_1, CWAP_2, and CWAP_3).CWAP_1 and CWAP_2 are serially connected to Port 1 of the content server132 via Ethernet segments 302 a and 302 b. In contrast, CWAP_3 isconnected to Port 2 of the content server 132 via Ethernet segment 302c. The network analysis terminal 150 can be configured to monitor thewireless air interface used by the cabin network 300 and/or can beconnected to one or more of the Ethernet segments 302 to receive packetscommunicated between two or more of: the content server 132; the CWAPs110; the passenger terminals 130; the seat VDUs 132; and/or othercomponents of the IFE system.

In the illustrated example, the content server 132 includes a DynamicHost Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server 142. Some or all of the CWAPs110, the passenger terminals 130, the network analysis terminal 150, andother devices that communicate with the content server 132 can include aDHCP client 112. A device uses the DHCP client 112 to acquire from theDHCP server 142 an IP address used to address communications to thatdevice when communicating through the cabin network 300. In an IFEenvironment, the DHCP server 142 may maintain a configuration file thatcontains mapping between defined IP addresses and physical locationswhere the CWAPs 110 are installed, and may select among the defined IPaddresses for assignment to a CWAP 110 based on a physical location ofthe CWAP 110.

The content server 132 can include a content streaming and File TransferProtocol (FTP) controller 144 that provides content, such as a movies,television programs, electronic books and magazines, audio, games, etc.,to seat VDUs 132 and passenger terminals 130. Some content may bestreamed, e.g., movies, via a streaming protocol responsive to on-demandrequests initiated by passengers, while other content, e.g., games, maybe transferred as files via FTP.

The network analysis terminal 150 includes a network interface 158, aprocessor 152, and a memory 154. The network interface 158 may include awired network interface (e.g., Ethernet, USB, etc.) and/or a wirelesstransceiver interface (e.g., IEEE 802.11, LTE, Bluetooth, WIMAX, LightWIFI, etc.). The terminal 150 can use its wireless transceiver interfaceto receive and decode packets that are being communicated through awireless air interface between one or more of the CWAP 110 and one ormore of the passenger terminals 130, the seat VDUs 132, etc.

The processor 152 may include one or more data processing circuits, suchas a general purpose and/or special purpose processor (e.g.,microprocessor and/or digital signal processor) that may be collocatedor distributed across one or more networks. The processor 152 isconfigured to execute computer readable program code in the memory 154,described below as a non-transitory computer readable medium.

The memory 154 can include program code that performs some or all of theoperations and methods that are described herein for one or more of theembodiments of a network analysis terminal. The memory 154 can include aDHCP client 112 and a mapping information repository 156 that containsinformation used to map names of vehicle passengers to passengerterminal identifiers, e.g., MAC addresses. The mapping repository 156may include information 160 mapping media access control (MAC) addressesto passenger names, an electronic passenger manifest 162 mappingpassenger names to seat numbers, and an electronic set of passengeritineraries 164 mapping passenger names to multi-vehicle travel legs.The electronic passenger manifest 162 can logically associate MACaddresses with passenger names and assigned seat numbers within thevehicle. The set of passenger itineraries 164 can logically associatethe vehicle passengers with vehicle identifiers for vehicles that arescheduled to transport the respective vehicle passengers duringmulti-vehicle travel legs of respective trips.

Example operations that can be performed by the network analysisterminal 150 to generate passenger connectivity experience metrics andidentify a problematic communication sequence as explained withreference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 is a combined flowchart and data flowdiagram of operations and methods performed by a passenger terminal 130,a CWAP 110, and a content server 132 according to some embodiments. FIG.5 illustrates operations and methods performed by the network analysisterminal 150 in accordance with some embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 4, the passenger terminal 130 performs the DynamicHost Configuration Protocol (DHCP) operations through communicationswith the CWAP 110, and the DHCP server 142, to request Internet Protocol(IP) parameters, including assignment of an IP address thereto. The DHCPclients and server employ a connectionless service model, using the UserDatagram Protocol (UDP).

The network analysis terminal 150 observes that the passenger terminal130 has transmitted (block 400) a DHCP discovery message packet, whichis an IP address lease request. The terminal 150 also observes that theCWAP 110 has transmitted (block 402) a DHCP offer message packet towardthe passenger terminal 150 responsive to the DHCP discovery message. Theterminal 150 subsequently observes repeated duplication of the cycle ofpacket transmissions of DHCP discovery messages and responsive DHCPoffer messages between the passenger terminal 130 and the CWAP 110,including the passenger terminal 130 transmission (block 404) and theCWAP 110 responsive transmission (block 406).

The network analysis terminal 150 thereby identifies occurrences of thepassenger terminal identifier (e.g., MAC address) of the passengerterminal 130 repeatedly sending DHCP discovery messages through thecabin network 300 while apparently ignoring responsive DHCP offermessages from the cabin network 300, and operates to generate apassenger connectivity experience metric based on the identifiedoccurrences. The passenger connectivity experience metric can indicatethat the passenger terminal 130 is not properly operating whenperforming the DHCP protocol, and may identify the name of the passengerwho is known to be associated with the passenger terminal identifier andmay identify characteristics of the passenger terminal 130 based oncontent of those observed packets. The identified characteristics of thepassenger terminal 130 can include the type of operating system hostedby the terminal 130, the operating system version, the hardware terminaltype, the manufacturer identifier (e.g., based on known MAC addressranges known to have been assigned to different terminal manufacturers),etc., which may be determined based on deep packet inspection of contentof the observed packets.

The network analysis terminal 150 continues monitoring packetstransmitted through the wireless air interface and observes a furtherDHCP request message packet transmitted (block 408) by the passengerterminal 130 and a responsive DHCP acknowledgment message transmitted(block 410) by the CWAP 110, indicating that the passenger terminal 130has finally accepted the transmitted (block 406) DHCP offer message. Theterminal 150 subsequently monitors packets communicated between thepassenger terminal 130 and the CWAP 110 as content is requested by thepassenger terminal 130 and responsively streamed from the content server132 through the CWAP 110. More particularly, the terminal 150 canobserve content streaming request messages transmitted (block 412) bythe passenger terminal 130 and observe responsive content packetsstreamed (block 416). Terminal 150 can further observe acknowledgmentstransmitted (block 412) by the passenger terminal 130 responsive toreceiving, decoding, and performing acceptable error-checking on thereceived content packets, and can observe automatic request (ARQ)retransmission of content packets by the content server 132 responsiveto absence of ARQ packets from the passenger terminal 130 within athreshold timeframe of the corresponding content packet transmission.The CWAP 110 forwards (block 414) packets received through the wirelessair interface from the passenger terminal 130 toward the addressedcontent server 132, and similarly forwards packets received through thewireless air interface from the content server 132 toward the addressedpassenger terminal 130.

With further reference to FIG. 5, the network analysis terminal 150monitors (block 500) message packets being communicated through thewireless air interface of the cabin network 300. The terminal 150identifies (block 502) passenger terminal identifiers that are addressedby content of the packets. The terminal 150 identifies (block 504) namesof vehicle passengers associated with the packets using the passengerterminal identifiers as indexes to retrieve the names of vehiclepassengers from the information repository 160 that maps names ofvehicle passengers to passenger terminal identifiers. The terminal 150performs measurements (block 506) on the packets over time. Variousmeasurements that be performed by the terminal 150 are explained infurther detail below. The terminal 150 generates (block 508) passengerconnectivity experience metrics based on the measurements. The passengerconnectivity experience metrics indicate network connectivityperformance experienced by the identified names of vehicle passengerswhile operating passenger terminals using the cabin network 300. Theterminal 150 controls (block 510) communications through the cabinnetwork 300 based on the passenger connectivity experience metrics, andmay report (block 512) the connectivity experience metrics to anothercomponent of the cabin network 300, a crew terminal, an operatorcomputer may be an-board or off-board the aircraft, etc.

The network analysis terminal 150 may operate to identify names ofvehicle passengers associated with the packets, by receiving a messagethrough the network interface 158 from an application executed by one ofthe passenger terminals 130 that stores a boarding pass and/or areservation confirmation for one of the vehicle passengers, the messagecontaining the name of the one of the vehicle passengers and a MACaddress for a network interface circuit of the one of the passengerterminals. The terminal 150 then stores the name of the one of thevehicle passengers and the MAC address with a logical association toeach other within the information repository 160 in a memory.

The network analysis terminal 150 may operate to generating a passengerconnectivity experience metric for one of the identified names of avehicle passenger based on measurements performed on a series of packetsthat each contain an address for one of passenger terminal identifiersthat is identified from the information repository 160 as beingassociated with the identified name of the vehicle passenger, whileexcluding from the generation of the passenger connectivity experiencemetric for the one of the identified names any measurements performed onpackets that do not contain the address for the one of passengerterminal identifiers that is identified as associated with theidentified name of the vehicle passenger. Thus, for example, the metriccan generated based measurements performed on only packets that containthe MAC address for a particular one of the passenger terminals 140. Themetric thereby represents the network connectivity experience of onepassenger who is operating the particular terminal.

In some embodiments, the operations for identifying passenger terminalidentifiers that are addressed by content of the packets, includeidentifying MAC addresses for network interface circuits 158 of thepassenger terminals 140. The operations for identifying names of vehiclepassengers associated with the packets using the passenger terminalidentifiers as indexes to retrieve the names of vehicle passengers fromthe information repository 160, can include querying the informationrepository 160 to identify one of the passenger names that is logicallyassociated with one of the MAC addresses that has been identified ascontent of one of the packets observed by the terminal 150.

The network analysis terminal 150 can operate to generate the passengerconnectivity experience metric, based on obtaining an electronicpassenger itinerary, e.g., from the set of passenger itineraries 164,that logically associates the identified name of the vehicle passengerwith vehicle identifiers for vehicles that are scheduled to transportthe vehicle passenger during multi-vehicle travel legs of a trip. Theterminal 150 can update the passenger connectivity experience metricresponsive to receipt of further packets associated with the identifiedname of the vehicle passenger during the duration of a present one ofthe multi-vehicle travel legs of the trip, and store the updatedpassenger connectivity experience metric in the electronic passengeritinerary repository 164 with a logical association to the identifiedname of the vehicle passenger and a logical association to the vehicleidentifier for the vehicle. Thus, metrics can be generated over multiplelegs of flights of different aircraft, with the resulting metrics beingstored in a repository that can be transferred from one aircraft toanother aircraft via a ground datalink network interface, anaircraft-to-aircraft datalink network, and/or storing the metrics on therespective passenger terminals 140 for transport by passengers betweenthe aircraft.

Various further embodiments related to how the network analysis terminal150 can generate passenger connectivity experience metrics are nowdescribed in the context of the operational flowcharts of FIGS. 6-11.

In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the network analysis terminal 150 mayoperate to decode (block 700) the packets, identify (block 702) a biterror rate occurring in the decoded packets that contain the address forthe one of passenger terminal identifiers that is identified asassociated with the identified name of the vehicle passenger, and thengenerate (block 704) the passenger connectivity experience metric basedon the bit error rate. Accordingly, the metric can indicate the biterror rate being experienced by communications with one particularpassenger via the cabin network 300, which may be affected byproblematic operations performed by the particular passenger's terminal,e.g., as described for FIG. 4.

In the embodiment of FIG. 8, the network analysis terminal 150 mayoperate to count (block 800) a number of packet retransmission requestssent by the one of passenger terminal identifiers that is identified asassociated with the identified name of the vehicle passenger, andgenerate (block 802) the passenger connectivity experience metric basedon the number of packet retransmission requests. Accordingly, the metriccan indicate the packet retransmission rate being experienced bycommunications with one particular passenger via the cabin network 300,which may be similarly affect by problematic operations performed by theparticular passenger's terminal, e.g., as described for FIG. 4.

In the embodiment of FIG. 9, the network analysis terminal 150 mayoperate to determine (block 900) communication bandwidth (e.g.,effective packet communication data rate) over a time interval of datacommunicated in packets sent by the one of passenger terminalidentifiers that is identified as associated with the identified name ofthe vehicle passenger, and generate (block 902) the passengerconnectivity experience metric based on the bandwidth. Accordingly, themetric can indicate the communication bandwidth experienced by oneparticular passenger while communicating through the cabin network 300.

In the embodiment of FIG. 10, the network analysis terminal 150 mayoperate to identify (block 1000) occurrences of the one of passengerterminal identifiers, that is identified as associated with theidentified name of the vehicle passenger, transmitting wireless signalshaving signal strength below a defined threshold level toward a CWAP 110of the cabin network 300, and generate (block 1002) the passengerconnectivity experience metric based on the identified occurrences.Accordingly, the metric may indicate whether an identified passenger ispossibly having an unsatisfactory experience using the cabin network 300due to the passenger's terminal 130 transmitting with insufficientsignal strength to be reliably received by the CWAP 110 in view ofinterference and/or other factors affecting the communication channel.

In the embodiment of FIG. 11, the network analysis terminal 150 mayoperate to identify (block 1000) occurrences of the one of passengerterminal identifiers, that is identified as associated with theidentified name of the vehicle passenger, not properly performing adefined message handshake with a CWAP 110 of the cabin network 300. Theterminal 150 can generate (block 1002) the passenger connectivityexperience metric based on the identified occurrences. An example of oneimproper message handshake observable by the terminal 150 was describedwith regarding to FIG. 4. The terminal 150 can identify the name of aparticular passenger who may be experiencing degraded network connectionperformance due to such improper handshaking by the passenger's terminal140.

For example, as explained above, the network analysis terminal 150 mayidentify occurrences of a passenger terminal identifier, that isidentified as associated with an identified name of the vehiclepassenger, repeatedly sending DHCP discovery messages toward the cabinnetwork 300 while apparently ignoring responsive DHCP offer messagesfrom the cabin network 300, and can generate the passenger connectivityexperience metric based on the identified occurrences. The terminal 150may respond to determining that the passenger connectivity experiencemetric satisfies a defined remedial action rule, by sending a message toone or more of the CWAPs 110 instructing to block establishment of acommunication link to the one of passenger terminal identifiers.

Various actions that can be performed by the network analysis terminal150 to control communications through the cabin network 300 and/or toreport the passenger connectivity experience metrics are now describedwith reference to the operational flowchart of FIG. 12.

In some embodiments, the network analysis terminal 150 operates toidentify (block 1200) occurrences of the one of passenger terminalidentifiers, that is identified as associated with the identified nameof the vehicle passenger, causing at least a threshold level ofinterference to communications between a CWAP 110 of the cabin network300 and other passenger terminals 140, and generates the passengerconnectivity experience metric based on the identified occurrences. Theterminal 150 then operates to control (block 1202) communicationsthrough the cabin network 300 by, responsive to the passengerconnectivity experience metric satisfying a defined remedial actionrule, sending (block 1204) a message to the CWAP 110 to blockestablishment of a communication link to the one of passenger terminalidentifiers.

In a further or alternate embodiment, the terminal 150 responds to thepassenger connectivity experience metric satisfying a defined remedialaction rule, by querying (block 1206) the electronic passenger manifest162, which logically associates passenger names with cabin seatidentifiers, to identify one of the cabin seat identifiers where theidentified name of the vehicle passenger is located. The terminal 150then sends (block 1208) to a crew terminal a notification message thatcontains the identified one of the cabin seat identifiers and anindication that excessive interference by that passenger to the cabinnetwork 300 is occurring.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a network node 1300 that can be configuredto operate as a content server 132 and/or as a CWAP 110 in accordancewith some embodiments. The network node 1300 includes a processor 1302,a memory 1304, and a wired network interface 1306 and/or a radiotransceiver network interface 1308. The processor 1302 may include oneor more data processing circuits, such as a general purpose and/orspecial purpose processor (e.g., microprocessor and/or digital signalprocessor) that may be collocated or distributed across one or morenetworks. The processor 1302 is configured to execute computer readableprogram code in the memory 1304, described below as a non-transitorycomputer readable medium, to perform some or all of the operations andmethods that are described herein for a content server 132 and/or a CWAP110.

Other Operations and Methods by Network Analysis Terminals:

Numerous additional and alternative operations and methods can beperformed by network analysis terminals are now described in the contextof FIGS. 14-21. As will be explained in further detail below, various ofthese embodiments can identify a passenger terminal that is interferingwith communications between CWAPs and other passenger terminals, and canresponsively report the passenger terminal to a crew member with anidentification of the associated passenger name and/or can block thepassenger terminal from accessing the CWAPs. The network analysisterminals can provide a listing of the passenger names to an onboard oroff-board registry that can determine whether one of the passengers is apotential problem and, if so, can trigger notification to a crew memberand/or block access to the cabin wireless access points.

Referring to FIG. 14, the network analysis terminal 150 monitors (block1400) message packets being communicated through the wireless airinterface of the cabin network 300. The terminal 150 identifies (block1402) passenger terminal identifiers that are addressed by content ofthe packets. The terminal 150 also identifies (block 1404) names ofvehicle passengers associated with the packets using the passengerterminal identifiers as indexes to retrieve the names of vehiclepassengers from the information repository 160 that maps names ofvehicle passengers to passenger terminal identifiers. The terminal 150performs measurements (block 1406) on the packets over time. Variousmeasurements that can be performed by the terminal 150 have beenexplained above and further below. The terminal 150 generates (block1408) connectivity metrics based on the measurements performed on thepackets over time and the identified names of the passengers. Theterminal 150 then controls (block 1410) communications through the cabinnetwork 300 based on the connectivity metrics.

Various alternative operations and methods for generating connectivitymetrics and controlling communications through the cabin network 300 areexplained with regard to FIGS. 15-21.

Referring to the operational embodiment of FIG. 15, when generating theconnectivity metrics the network analysis terminal 150 identifies (block1500) occurrences of at least a threshold level of interference by aninterfering passenger terminal 130 to communications between the CWAPs110 and other of the passenger terminals 130. The network analysisterminal 150 controls (block 1502) each of the CWAPs 110 to measure andreport to the network analysis terminal 150 a direction which theinterfering passenger terminal 130 is located relative to the CWAP 110.The network analysis terminal 150 receives (block 1504) the directionsreported by the CWAPs 110, and estimates (block 1506) a location of theinterfering passenger terminal 130 within the cabin responsive to thedirections reported by the CWAPs 110.

The network analysis terminal 150 may responsively control (block 1508)communications through the cabin network 300 by sending (block 1510) toa crew terminal a notification message that contains the estimatedlocation of the interfering passenger terminal 300 within the cabin andan indication that excessive interference by the interfering passengerterminal 300 to the CWAPs 110 is occurring. In this manner, a crewmember can be informed of not only the presence of an interferingterminal but, moreover, the estimated location of the interferingterminal so that the crew member may attempt to communicate with theassociated passenger to remedy the situation. Alternatively oradditionally, the network analysis terminal 150 may control (block 1508)the communications by sending (block 1512) a message to the CWAPs 110 toblock establishment of a communication link to the interfering passengerterminal 130.

Referring to the operational embodiment of FIG. 16, when generating theconnectivity metrics the network analysis terminal 150 controls (block1600) each of the CWAPs 110 to measure and report to the networkanalysis terminal 150 an interference signal strength of a signalreceived from an interfering passenger terminal 130 that interferes withcommunications between the CWAP 110 and passenger terminals 130. Thenetwork analysis terminal 150 may respond to the interference signalstrengths received from the CWAPs 110 satisfying a defined remedialaction rule, by controlling (block 1602) communications through thecabin network 300. The control may include sending (block 1604) amessage to the CWAPs 110 to block establishment of a communication linkto the interfering passenger terminal. Such interference may arise whena passenger terminal is operating outside the constraints or permissiveboundaries of a communications standard (e.g., failing to reducetransmitter power level responsive to a strong received signal strengthindication or command from a servicing CWAP). Thus, when interferencefrom the interfering passenger terminal 130 is measured by one or moreCWAPs 110 is be above a defined threshold the network analysis terminal150 can command the CWAPs 110 to prevent communication with theinterfering passenger terminal 130 that could further interfere withongoing communications with the other passenger terminals 130.

Alternatively or additionally, the network analysis terminal 150 mayrespond (block 1602) to the interference signal strengths received fromthe CWAPs 110 satisfying a defined remedial action rule, by identifying(block 1606) the name of a vehicle passenger associated with theinterfering passenger terminal 130 using the passenger terminalidentifier for the interfering passenger terminal as an index to withinthe information repository 156, and sending (block 1608) to a crewterminal a notification message that contains the name of a vehiclepassenger that is identified and an indication that excessiveinterference by the interfering passenger terminal to the CWAPs 110 isoccurring. The crew terminal may be onboard the vehicle or off-board thevehicle but communicatively connected thereto through a wireless datalink.

Some other embodiments are directed to identifying when a passengerterminal has been left onboard the vehicle and taking responsive actionsto notify a crew member of the presence of the passenger terminal andthe name of the associated passenger. Locating the abandoned passengerterminal may be performed as a passenger service and/or may be performedas a flight safety issue to prevent a possible terrorist act using thatterminal.

Referring to the operational embodiment of FIG. 17, the network analysisterminal 150 can determine that a defined event has occurred which isindicative of when all passengers should have departed the vehicle cabin100, and responsively identify (block 1700) presence of an abandonedpassenger terminal 130 having a passenger terminal identifier that isaddressed by content of a packet transmitted by the abandoned passengerterminal 130 after the occurrence of the defined event. The networkanalysis terminal 150 may respond to identifying presence of theabandoned passenger terminal 130 by controlling (block 1702)communications through the cabin network 300. In one embodiment, thenetwork analysis terminal 150 identifies (block 1704) the name of avehicle passenger associated with the abandoned passenger terminal 130using the passenger terminal identifier for the abandoned passengerterminal 130 as an index to within the information repository 156, andsends (block 1706) to a crew terminal a notification message thatcontains the name of the vehicle passenger that is identified and anindication that the abandoned passenger terminal 130 may be abandonedwithin the vehicle cabin 100.

In a further embodiment relating to FIG. 17, the network analysisterminal 150 generates a listing of the passenger terminal identifierswhich are addressed by content of the packets received by the networkinterface during travel by the vehicle. Following occurrence of thedefined event, the network analysis terminal 150 identifies a passengerterminal identifier of the abandoned passenger terminal 130 that isaddressed by content of a packet transmitted by the abandoned passengerterminal 130 after the occurrence of the defined event and that iscontained in the listing of the passenger terminal identifiers generatedduring the travel by the vehicle. These additional steps may serve togenerate notifications only when the abandoned passenger terminal waspresent onboard during an earlier flight leg, while ignoring presence ofa passenger terminal that has been newly carried onboard perhaps inpreparation for an upcoming flight leg.

Some other embodiments are directed to identifying when a passengerterminal is operating as a wireless access point advertising to otherpassenger terminals a network connection service to the cabin network300. A passenger terminal may be operated in this manner to improperlymonitor communications by other passenger terminals for purposes ofgathering confidential information (e.g., eCommerce account logincredentials, credit card information, etc.) that can be used forfraudulent activities.

Referring to the operational embodiment of FIG. 18, when generating theconnectivity metrics the network analysis terminal 150 can identify(block 1800) from at least some received packets that a particular oneof passenger terminals 130 is operating as a wireless access pointadvertising to other passenger terminals 130 a network connectionservice to the cabin network 300. The network analysis terminal 150responds to identifying that the particular passenger terminal 130 isoperating as a wireless access point, by controlling (block 1802)communications through the cabin network 300.

The network analysis terminal 150 may respond by sending (block 1804) amessage to the cabin network 300 to block establishment of acommunication link between a CWAP 110 and the particular passengerterminal 130. Sending of the message may be triggered responsive to theterminal 150 identifying that the particular passenger terminal 130 isadvertising a service set identifier (SSID) that matches an SSIDadvertised by the CWAP 110. Thus, when a passenger terminal 130 isclearly imitating a CWAP of the cabin network 300 the crew can benotified and communications with that passenger terminal can be blocked.

Alternatively or additionally, the network analysis terminal 150 mayrespond (block 1802) to identifying that the particular passengerterminal 130 is operating as a wireless access point, by identifying(block 1806) the name of a vehicle passenger associated with theparticular passenger terminal 130 using the passenger terminalidentifier for the particular passenger terminal 130 as an index towithin the information repository 156, and sending (block 1808) to acrew terminal a notification message that contains the name of a vehiclepassenger that is identified and an indication that an unpermittedwireless access point is occurring.

In a further related embodiment to FIG. 18, when generating connectivitymetrics the network analysis terminal 150 can control each of the CWAPs110 to measure and report to the network analysis terminal 150 adirection which the particular passenger terminal is located relative tothe CWAP 110. The CWAPs 110 may each determine the direction based oncomparing strengths of signals and/or relative time-of-arrival ofsignals received by multiple antennas of the CWAP from the passengerterminal. The network analysis terminal 150 receives the directionsreported by the CWAPs 110, estimates a location of the particularpassenger terminal within the cabin responsive to the directionsreported by the CWAPs 110. The location may, for example, be identifiedas a direction from one or more of the CWAPs 110 installed within thecabin and/or may be identified as a direction and/or distance relativeto one or more of the CWAPs 110 and/or one or more seats within thecabin using a repository of information, which defines the locations ofthe CWAPs 110 relative to the cabin and/or defines the locations of theCWAPs 110 relative to the seats. The operations for sending thenotification to a crew terminal can include generating the notificationmessage to contain the estimated location of the particular passengerterminal 130 within the cabin, the name of a vehicle passenger that isidentified, and the indication that an unpermitted wireless access pointis occurring.

Some other embodiments are directed to identifying when a passengerterminal is performing peer-to-peer communications, e.g., WiFi direct,with another one of the passenger terminals. A passenger terminal may beoperated in this manner to circumvent monitoring by devices that arepart of or are connected through the cabin network 300. For example,passengers conspiring to commit a terrorist act on the vehicle may usepeer-to-peer communications to confidentially plan such act.Peer-to-peer communications can also be disruptive to the operation ofthe cabin network 300 in view of their potential competition for andinterference with the same scarce radio resources (e.g., operationalradio frequencies) that used by the CWAPs 110 to communicate within thecabin.

Referring to the operational embodiment of FIG. 19, when generatingconnectivity metrics the network analysis terminal 150 can identify(block 1900) from at least some received packets that a particular oneof the passenger terminals 130 is performing peer-to-peer communicationswith another one of the passenger terminals 130 without the at leastsome packets being routed through a CWAP 110 of the cabin network 300.The network analysis terminal 150 responds to identifying that theparticular passenger terminal 130 is performing peer-to-peercommunications, by controlling (block 1908) communications through thecabin network 300.

When controlling (block 1908) communications through the cabin network300, the network analysis terminal 150 may send a message to a CWAP 110to block establishment of a communication link between the CWAP 110 andthe particular passenger terminal 130. Alternatively or additionally,the network analysis terminal 150 may responsively identify (block 1912)the name of a vehicle passenger associated with the particular passengerterminal 130 using the passenger terminal identifier for the particularpassenger terminals 130 as an index to within the information repository156, and send (block 1914) to a crew terminal a notification messagethat contains the name of a vehicle passenger that is identified and anindication that unpermitted peer-to-peer communications is occurring.

The network analysis terminal 150 may control (block 1902) each of theCWAPs 110 to measure and report to the network analysis terminal 150 adirection which the particular passenger terminal 130 is locatedrelative to the CWAP 110. The directions reported by the CWAPs 110 arereceived (block 1904), and a location of the particular passengerterminal 130 within the cabin is estimated (block 1906) responsive tothe directions reported by the CWAPs 110. The network analysis terminal150 may then generate the notification message to contain the estimatedlocation of the particular passenger terminal 130 within the cabin, thename of a vehicle passenger that is identified, and the indication thatthe unpermitted peer-to-peer communications is occurring.

Some other embodiments are directed to a network analysis terminalproviding a listing of the passenger names to an onboard or off-boardregistry that can determine whether one of the passengers is a potentialproblem and, if so, can trigger notification to a crew member and/orblock or otherwise control access to the cabin network. A passenger may,for example, be identified as on a no-fly list and who should not bepresent on the aircraft, identified as having an outstanding arrestwarrant, identified as having caused problems during an earlier flight,and/or another defined reason.

Referring to the embodiments of FIG. 20, the network analysis terminal150 transmits (block 2000) a list of the names of vehicle passengers,which have been identified as being associated with the packets, in amessage toward the cabin network 300. The message is directed to anetwork address that corresponds to a ground data server that isoff-board the vehicle. Network analysis terminal 150 subsequentlyreceives (block 2002 a notification message from the network addressthat corresponds to the ground data server. The notification messagecontains information identifying one of the names in the list assatisfying a defined rule. The network analysis terminal 150responsively controls (block 2004) communications through the cabinnetwork 300 by the passenger terminal 130 that is associated with theidentified passenger.

In one related embodiment, responsive to the content of the notificationmessage the network analysis terminal 150 sends (block 2006) a messageto one or more of the CWAPs 110 to block establishment of acommunication link to one of passenger terminals 130 which is identifiedby the information repository as being associated with the one of thenames identified by the notification message.

In another related embodiment, responsive to the content of thenotification message the network analysis terminal 150 queries (block2008) an electronic passenger manifest, e.g., the repository 162, thatlogically associates passenger names with cabin seat identifiers toidentify one of the cabin seat identifiers where the one of the namesidentified by the notification message is located. A notificationmessage is generated (block 2010) to contain the identified one of thecabin seat identifiers and the one of the names identified by thenotification message, and is sent (block 2012) to a crew terminal.

In another related embodiment, responsive to the content of thenotification message the network analysis terminal 150 adjust (block2014) a quality of service provided by the cabin network 300 tocommunications with one of passenger terminals identified by theinformation repository as being associated with the one of the namesidentified by the notification message. When the identified name isassociated with a prioritized customer, e.g., a traveler having adefined customer tier status, a corresponding higher tier quality ofservice can be provided to the passenger terminal 130 that has beenidentified as being associated with the identified name. The quality ofservice that is controlled may include, but is not limited to,communication bandwidth limitation, allowed packet jitter rate, packetdelivery delay limitation, packet delivery prioritization, etc.

Some other embodiments are directed to operating a network analysisterminal to map signal measurements of CWAPs 110 to locations within thecabin, and identify when changes occur over time in those measurementssuch that a notification message is sent to a crew terminal. The crewterminal may reside onboard the vehicle or may be off-for the vehiclebut communicatively connected to the cabin network 300 through awireless communication link.

Referring to the embodiments of FIG. 21, the network analysis terminal150 can be a mobile communication terminal is transportable through thevehicle cabin 100, such as along an aisle and between rows of seats. Thenetwork analysis terminal 150 operates to identify (block 2100) itslocation within the cabin while being transported through the cabin,performs (block 2102) measurements of signals received from the CWAPs110 at the locations, and stores (block 2104) in a memory device themeasurements of signals associated with the locations. Over time thenetwork analysis terminal 150 identifies when the measurements of thesignals performed at one or more of the locations has changed such thata defined reporting rule has become satisfied. Responsive to the rulebeing satisfied the network analysis terminal 150 sends (block 2108) toa crew terminal a notification message that contains informationidentifying that the reporting rule has been satisfied.

The locations of the network analysis terminal 150 within the cabin maybe determined by the terminal 150 containing a GPS receiver thatdetermines GPS based locations while being transported through thecabin. The network analysis terminal 150 can compute a pathway alongwhich the network analysis terminal was transported through the cabin.When sending the notification message to a crew terminal, the networkanalysis terminal 150 can generate the notification message to includean indication of a location along the pathway where the reporting rulebecame satisfied. The crew member can thereby identify where within thecabin a signal quality problem is occurring, which may assist withdetermining what remedial action, if any, should be taken. The remedialaction using this location may include identifying which one or moreantennas of one or more of the CWAPs 110 should be adjusted to attemptto remedy the signal quality problem at the defined location along thepathway.

Further Definitions and Embodiments

In the above-description of various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, it is to be understood that the terminology used herein isfor the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is notintended to be limiting of the invention. Unless otherwise defined, allterms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have thesame meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the artto which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood thatterms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should beinterpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning inthe context of this specification and the relevant art and will not beinterpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly sodefined herein.

When an element is referred to as being “connected”, “coupled”,“responsive”, or variants thereof to another element, it can be directlyconnected, coupled, or responsive to the other element or interveningelements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to asbeing “directly connected”, “directly coupled”, “directly responsive”,or variants thereof to another element, there are no interveningelements present. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.Furthermore, “coupled”, “connected”, “responsive”, or variants thereofas used herein may include wirelessly coupled, connected, or responsive.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described indetail for brevity and/or clarity. The term “and/or” includes any andall combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

As used herein, the terms “comprise”, “comprising”, “comprises”,“include”, “including”, “includes”, “have”, “has”, “having”, or variantsthereof are open-ended, and include one or more stated features,integers, elements, steps, components or functions but does not precludethe presence or addition of one or more other features, integers,elements, steps, components, functions or groups thereof. Furthermore,as used herein, the common abbreviation “e.g.”, which derives from theLatin phrase “exempli gratia,” may be used to introduce or specify ageneral example or examples of a previously mentioned item, and is notintended to be limiting of such item. The common abbreviation “i.e.”,which derives from the Latin phrase “id est,” may be used to specify aparticular item from a more general recitation.

Example embodiments are described herein with reference to blockdiagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of computer-implemented methods,apparatus (systems and/or devices) and/or computer program products. Itis understood that a block of the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/orflowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer programinstructions that are performed by one or more computer circuits. Thesecomputer program instructions may be provided to a processor circuit ofa general purpose computer circuit, special purpose computer circuit,and/or other programmable data processing circuit to produce a machine,such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of thecomputer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus, transformand control transistors, values stored in memory locations, and otherhardware components within such circuitry to implement thefunctions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block orblocks, and thereby create means (functionality) and/or structure forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/orflowchart block(s).

These computer program instructions may also be stored in anon-transitory computer-readable medium that can direct a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/orflowchart block or blocks.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium may include an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, or semiconductor data storagesystem, apparatus, or device. More specific examples of thecomputer-readable medium would include the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a random access memory (RAM) circuit, a read-onlymemory (ROM) circuit, an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory) circuit, a portable compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM), and a portable digital video disc read-only memory(DVD/BlueRay).

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computerand/or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer and/or otherprogrammable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process suchthat the instructions which execute on the computer or otherprogrammable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/actsspecified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block or blocks.Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure may be embodied inhardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software,micro-code, etc.) that runs on a processor such as a digital signalprocessor, which may collectively be referred to as “circuitry,” “amodule” or variants thereof.

It should also be noted that in some alternate implementations, thefunctions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted inthe flowcharts. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in factbe executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/actsinvolved. Moreover, the functionality of a given block of the flowchartsand/or block diagrams may be separated into multiple blocks and/or thefunctionality of two or more blocks of the flowcharts and/or blockdiagrams may be at least partially integrated. Finally, other blocks maybe added/inserted between the blocks that are illustrated. Moreover,although some of the diagrams include arrows on communication paths toshow a primary direction of communication, it is to be understood thatcommunication may occur in the opposite direction to the depictedarrows.

Many different embodiments have been disclosed herein, in connectionwith the above description and the drawings. It will be understood thatit would be unduly repetitious and obfuscating to literally describe andillustrate every combination and subcombination of these embodiments.Accordingly, the present specification, including the drawings, shall beconstrued to constitute a complete written description of variousexample combinations and subcombinations of embodiments and of themanner and process of making and using them, and shall support claims toany such combination or subcombination.

Many variations and modifications can be made to the embodiments withoutsubstantially departing from the principles of the present invention.All such variations and modifications are intended to be included hereinwithin the scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A network analysis terminal in communication withwireless access points, the network analysis terminal comprising: anetwork interface configured to monitor packets communicated through thewireless access points of at least one network between a content serverand user terminals; a processor connected to receive packets monitoredby the network interface; and a memory connected to the processor andstoring computer readable program code executed by the processor toperform operations comprising: identifying user terminal identifiersfrom content of the packets comprising a network address of the userterminals; identifying names of users associated with the packets usingthe user terminal identifiers as indexes to retrieve the names of usersfrom an information repository that maps names of users to user terminalidentifiers; generating connectivity metrics based on measurementsperformed on the packets over time and the identified names of theusers; and blocking establishment of communications between the wirelessaccess points of the at least one network and the user terminals basedon the connectivity metrics.
 2. The network analysis terminal of claim1, wherein: the wireless access points are attached at spaced apartlocations of a structure and are communicatively connected to thecontent server; the operations for generating connectivity metrics,further comprise: identifying occurrences of at least a threshold levelof interference by an interfering user terminal to communicationsbetween the wireless access points and the user terminals; controllingeach of the wireless access points to measure and report to the networkanalysis terminal a direction which the interfering user terminal islocated relative to the wireless access point; receiving the directionsreported by the wireless access points; and estimating a location of theinterfering user terminal responsive to the directions reported by thewireless access points; and the operations for blocking establishment ofcommunications between the wireless access points of the at least onenetwork and the user terminals based on the connectivity metrics,comprise sending to an operator terminal a notification message thatcontains the estimated location of the interfering user terminal and anindication that excessive interference by the interfering user terminalto the wireless access points is occurring.
 3. The network analysisterminal of claim 2, wherein the operations for blocking establishmentof communications between the wireless access points of the at least onenetwork and the user terminals based on the connectivity metrics,further comprise: sending a message to the wireless access points toblock establishment of a communication link to the interfering userterminal.
 4. The network analysis terminal of claim 1, wherein: thewireless access points are attached to spaced apart locations along astructure and are communicatively connected to the content server; theoperations for generating connectivity metrics, further comprise:controlling each of the wireless access points to measure and report tothe network analysis terminal an interference signal strength of asignal received from an interfering user terminal that interferes withcommunications between the wireless access point and user terminals; andthe operations for blocking establishment of communications through theat least one network based on the connectivity metrics, compriseresponsive to the interference signal strengths received from thewireless access points satisfying a defined remedial action rule,sending a message to the wireless access points to block establishmentof a communication link to the interfering user terminal.
 5. The networkanalysis terminal of claim 1, wherein: the wireless access points areattached to spaced apart locations along a structure and arecommunicatively connected to the content server; the operations forgenerating connectivity metrics, further comprise: controlling each ofthe wireless access points to measure and report to the network analysisterminal an interference signal strength of a signal received from aninterfering user terminal that interferes with communications betweenthe wireless access point and user terminals; and the operations forblocking establishment of communications between the wireless accesspoints of the at least one network and the user terminals based on theconnectivity metrics, comprise responsive to the interference signalstrengths received from the wireless access points satisfying a definedremedial action rule, identifying the name of a user associated with theinterfering user terminal using the user terminal identifier for theinterfering user terminal as an index to within the informationrepository, and sending to an operator terminal a notification messagethat contains the name of a user that is identified and an indicationthat excessive interference by the interfering user terminal to thewireless access points is occurring.
 6. The network analysis terminal ofclaim 1, the operations further comprising: following occurrence of adefined event which is indicative of when all users should have departeda defined user space, identifying presence of an abandoned user terminalhaving a user terminal identifier that is addressed by content of apacket transmitted by the abandoned user terminal after the occurrenceof the defined event, wherein the operations for blocking establishmentof communications between the wireless access points of the at least onenetwork and the user terminals based on the connectivity metrics,comprise responsive to identifying presence of the abandoned userterminal, identifying the name of a user associated with the abandoneduser terminal using the user terminal identifier for the abandoned userterminal as an index to within the information repository, and sendingto an operator terminal a notification message that contains the name ofthe user that is identified and an indication that the abandoned userterminal may be abandoned within the defined user space.
 7. The networkanalysis terminal of claim 6, wherein the identifying presence of anabandoned user terminal having a user terminal identifier that isaddressed by content of a packet transmitted by the abandoned userterminal after the occurrence of the defined event, comprises:generating a listing of the user terminal identifiers which areaddressed by content of the packets received by the network interfaceduring occupation of the defined user space by users; and followingoccurrence of the defined event, identifying a user terminal identifierof the abandoned user terminal that is addressed by content of a packettransmitted by the abandoned user terminal after the occurrence of thedefined event and that is contained in the listing of the user terminalidentifiers generated during the occupation of the defined user space byusers.
 8. The network analysis terminal of claim 1, wherein: theoperations for generating connectivity metrics, comprise identifyingfrom at least some received packets that a particular one of userterminals is operating as a wireless access point advertising to otheruser terminals a network connection service to the at least one network;and the operations for blocking establishment of communications betweenthe wireless access points of the at least one network and the userterminals based on the connectivity metrics, comprise: responsive toidentifying that the particular one of user terminals is operating as awireless access point, sending a message to the at least one network toblock establishment of a communication link between a wireless accesspoint and the particular one of user terminals.
 9. The network analysisterminal of claim 8, wherein the operations for sending a message to atleast one network to block establishment of a communication link betweenthe wireless access point and the particular one of user terminals,further comprise: identifying that the particular one of user terminalsis advertising a service set identifier (SSID) that matches an SSIDadvertised by the wireless access point; and responding to identifyingthat the particular one of user terminals is operating as a wirelessaccess point and that the particular one of the user terminals isadvertising the SSID that matches the SSID advertised by the wirelessaccess point, by sending the message to the wireless access point toblock establishment of a communication link with the particular one ofuser terminals.
 10. The network analysis terminal of claim 1, wherein:the operations for generating connectivity metrics, comprise identifyingfrom at least some received packets that a particular one of userterminals is operating as a wireless access point advertising to otheruser terminals a network connection service to the at least one network;and the operations for blocking establishment of communications betweenthe wireless access points of the at least one network and the userterminals based on the connectivity metrics, comprise: responsive toidentifying that the particular one of user terminals is operating as awireless access point, identifying the name of a user associated withthe particular one of user terminals using the user terminal identifierfor the particular one of user terminals as an index to within theinformation repository, and sending to an operator terminal anotification message that contains the name of a user that is identifiedand an indication that an unpermitted wireless access point isoccurring.
 11. The network analysis terminal of claim 10, wherein: thewireless access points are attached at spaced apart locations along astructure and are communicatively connected to the content server; theoperations for generating connectivity metrics, further comprise:controlling each of the wireless access points to measure and report tothe network analysis terminal a direction which the particular one ofuser terminals is located relative to the wireless access point;receiving the directions reported by the wireless access points; andestimating a location of the particular one of user terminals responsiveto the directions reported by the wireless access points; and theoperations for sending to an operator terminal a notification messagethat contains the name of a user that is identified and an indicationthat an unpermitted wireless access point is occurring, comprisegenerating the notification message to contain the estimated location ofthe particular one of user terminals, the name of a user that isidentified, and the indication that an unpermitted wireless access pointis occurring.
 12. The network analysis terminal of claim 1, wherein: theoperations for generating connectivity metrics, comprise identifyingfrom at least some received packets that a particular one of userterminals is performing peer-to-peer communications with another one ofthe user terminals without the at least some packets being routedthrough a wireless access point of the at least one network; and theoperations for blocking establishment of communications between thewireless access points of the at least one network and the userterminals based on the connectivity metrics, comprise: responsive toidentifying that the particular one of user terminals is performingpeer-to-peer communications, sending a message to a wireless accesspoint to block establishment of a communication link between thewireless access point and the particular one of user terminals.
 13. Thenetwork analysis terminal of claim 1, wherein: the operations forgenerating connectivity metrics, comprise identifying from at least somereceived packets that a particular one of user terminals is performingpeer-to-peer communications with another one of the user terminalswithout the at least some packets being routed through a wireless accesspoint of the at least one network; and the operations for blockingestablishment of communications between the wireless access points ofthe at least one network and the user terminals based on theconnectivity metrics, comprise: responsive to identifying that theparticular one of user terminals is performing peer-to-peercommunications, identifying the name of a user associated with theparticular one of user terminals using the user terminal identifier forthe particular one of user terminals as an index to within theinformation repository, and sending to an operator terminal anotification message that contains the name of a user that is identifiedand an indication that unpermitted peer-to-peer communications isoccurring.
 14. The network analysis terminal of claim 13, wherein: thewireless access points are attached at spaced apart locations along astructure and are communicatively connected to the content server; theoperations for generating connectivity metrics, further comprise:controlling each of the wireless access points to measure and report tothe network analysis terminal a direction which the particular one ofuser terminals is located relative to the wireless access point;receiving the directions reported by the wireless access points; andestimating a location of the particular one of user terminals responsiveto the directions reported by the wireless access points; and theoperations for sending to an operator terminal a notification messagethat contains the name of a user that is identified and an indicationthat unpermitted peer-to-peer communications is occurring, comprisegenerating the notification message to contain the estimated location ofthe particular one of user terminals, the name of a user that isidentified, and the indication that the unpermitted peer-to-peercommunications is occurring.
 15. The network analysis terminal of claim1, the operations further comprising: transmitting a list of the namesof users associated with the packets toward the at least one networkdirected to a network address that corresponds to a ground data server;receiving a notification message from the network address thatcorresponds to the ground data server, the notification messagecontaining information identifying one of the names in the list assatisfying a defined rule; and responsive to the content of thenotification message, sending to an operator terminal a notificationmessage that contains the one of the names identified by thenotification message.
 16. The network analysis terminal of claim 15, theoperations further comprising: responsive to the content of thenotification message, querying an electronic user manifest thatlogically associates user names with seat identifiers to identify one ofthe seat identifiers where the one of the names identified by thenotification message is located; and generating the notification messageto contain the identified one of the seat identifiers and the one of thenames identified by the notification message.
 17. The network analysisterminal of claim 1, the operations further comprising: transmitting alist of the names of users associated with the packets toward the atleast one network directed to a network address that corresponds to aground data server; receiving a notification message from the networkaddress that corresponds to the ground data server, the notificationmessage containing information identifying one of the names in the listas satisfying a defined rule; and responsive to the content of thenotification message, sending a message to the at least one network toblock establishment of a communication link to one of user terminalsidentified by the information repository as being associated with theone of the names identified by the notification message.
 18. The networkanalysis terminal of claim 1, the operations further comprise:transmitting a list of the names of users associated with the packetstoward the at least one network directed to a network address thatcorresponds to a ground data server; receiving a notification messagefrom the network address that corresponds to the ground data server, thenotification message containing information identifying one of the namesin the list as satisfying a defined rule; and responsive to the contentof the notification message, adjusting a quality of service provided bythe at least one network to communications with one of user terminalsidentified by the information repository as being associated with theone of the names identified by the notification message.
 19. The networkanalysis terminal of claim 1, wherein the wireless access points areattached at spaced apart locations along a structure of a defined userspace and are communicatively connected to the content server; whereinthe network analysis terminal comprises a mobile communication terminal;and the operations further comprise: identifying locations of thenetwork analysis terminal during occupation of the defined user space byusers; performing measurements of signals received from the wirelessaccess points at the locations; storing the measurements of signalsassociated with the locations; identifying changes over time between themeasurements of the signals performed at one or more of the locations;and responsive to the identified changes satisfying a defined reportingrule, sending to an operator terminal a notification message thatcontains information identifying that the reporting rule has beensatisfied.
 20. The network analysis terminal of claim 19, wherein: theoperations to identify locations of the network analysis terminal,comprise obtaining GPS locations of the network analysis terminal duringoccupation of the defined user space by users, and computing a pathwayalong which the network analysis terminal was transported by a userthrough the defined user space; and the operations to send to anoperator terminal a notification message, comprises generating thenotification message to include an indication of a location along thepathway where the reporting rule became satisfied.
 21. A method by anetwork analysis terminal in communication with wireless access points,the method comprising: monitoring packets communicated through thewireless access points of at least one network between a content serverand user terminals; identifying user terminal identifiers from contentof the packets comprising a network address of the user terminals;identifying names of users associated with the packets using the userterminal identifiers as indexes to retrieve the names of users from aninformation repository that maps names of users to user terminalidentifiers; generating connectivity metrics based on measurementsperformed on the packets over time; and blocking establishment ofcommunications between the wireless access points of the at least onenetwork and the user terminals based on the connectivity metrics.